Bad Decisions
by Tanguay18
Summary: One-shot In this story Ruthie has made some bad decisions and she is in big trouble. WARNING: Character Death.


**Bad Decisions**

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the show 7th Heaven, they belong of course to the WB.

A/N: This story just kind of popped into my head earlier, so I wrote it out quickly. If it has minor mistakes, it's because I didn't really sit out and plan this one ahead of time. I have never written a story before with Ruthie as the one in trouble, so this is new to me and I hope you like the story. This is only intended to be a one-shot. Any and all reviews will be greatly appreciated, I love to read reviews.

Warning: Character death!

Note: _Italics are thoughts though they aren't used much. _

Ruthie threw back the last of her beer. She knew it was stupid and she shouldn't be doing this, yet it was as if some unknown force was making her drink. The beer was nasty and left a disgusting taste in her mouth, but she pressed on. Someone turned on the stereo and all around her strange people began to dance wildly. Some guy grabbed her arm and dragged her to dance with him. She just let her body flow with the rhythm of the music.

After a while she started feeling nauseous. She broke away from the guy and ran up to the bathroom. It was occupied and she stumbled into the master bedroom, hoping it had a bathroom. Not finding one, she just bent over and threw up all over the floor. Then she felt really light-headed and she fell over the bed and blacked out.

"Yo chick, get up," someone was tugging at Ruthie's arm.

"Hmm," she mumbled, barely able to sit up.

"We need this bed," a guy was holding the hand of a blonde girl.

"I can't move," Ruthie muttered.

"Here let me help you," the guy picked Ruthie up and set her on the floor outside the bedroom.

Ruthie would have slapped the guy if she had the energy to move. Her head was spinning and she was really beginning to regret coming to this party. She remembered years ago when Simon got drunk at a party, and how she told herself she'd never do it. All of the the kids except Sam and David were gone now and she felt she had to experiment and make her choices. Now she wished Matt was home so she could call him for help and advice, but he was off in New York with his wife and daughter. Now she was wishing she wasn't so stupid. Why had she lied to her parents about where she went? Now no one would know where she was.

"Ruthie?" her friend Carol slurred.

"What?" Ruthie asked popping her eyes open.

"You need to go home, you look like you're in trouble," Carol helped her up to her feet.

"Okay," Ruthie wasn't up for a fight and she really wanted to go home and go to bed.

Carol dragged Ruthie outside and put her in the backseat of her car. She didn't bother to put a seatbelt on Ruthie, but just let her lay down on the backseat. Ruthie was too drunk to think straight and didn't slip a seatbelt on or protest her drunk friend driving. Carol pulled out onto the street and sped toward the Camden home. It was a dark night and it was late enough that there weren't many cars out on the streets.

Carol looked back on Ruthie who appeared to be sleeping. She decided there was no need to stop at the steetlights or stop signs because she hadn't seen a single car on the roads since she left the party. Of course as she sped through an red light, another car was unable to stop in time to keep from slamming into the side of Carol's car.

Ruthie was asleep when the car was hit. She didn't feel a thing, but as she lay on the floor of the car, she felt something was wrong. Shouldn't she be feeling pain? She felt nothing and it seemed like forever before her body was pulled out of the car and placed on a stretcher. She was immediately loaded into and ambulance and whisked away to the hospital. The strange thing was, she was awake, but she couldn't hear any of the voices around her. The terrified thought popped into her head that she had gone deaf. Time seemed to be moving at different speeds, sometimes it slowed down and other times it sped up.

When she arrived at the hospital she was wheeled into a dark room. Suddenly, the room was lit up brightly and Ruthie realized a sheet had been placed over head. She saw her parents staring down at her. Their faces were stained with tears and their eyes were puffy and red. She tried to move, but she couldn't.

"I can't believe Ruthie was at that party," Annie whimpered as she took Ruthie's small hand in her own.

"I thought she knew better than to get into a car with someone who was drunk," Eric sighed.

"My baby girl," Annie turned to cry on Eric's shoulder.

_It must be really bad_, Ruthie thought to herself, _Mom and Dad seem really upset. I wonder why I can see them and hear them, but I can't move. What if I'm paralyzed? _Terrifying thoughts flew threw her mind. She wanted desperately to lift her arm and comfort her parents, something to let them know she was okay.

"I never knew she was in so much trouble," Eric wiped away some of Annie's tears.

"I can't believe my angel is dead," Annie sobbed.

Dead! Ruthie couldn't believe her ears. It was impossible, she couldn't be dead. She didn't feel dead. She could see and hear her parents. Something was wrong, there had to be a mistake somewhere. Maybe the doctors were mistaken, she was only unconscious. Yet she saw her parents in front of her, holding one another in pain. She had to find a way to let them know she wasn't dead.

"This is so surreal," Eric whispered.

"We should say goodbye, I guess," Annie pulled away from her husband.

Annie took Ruthie's hand in her own, "Ruthie, it's your Mom. I know you can't hear me, but it will make me feel better to tell you goodbye. You were so smart and pretty, you had such a bright future ahead of you. I don't understand why you would have gone to that party. You knew better, we raised you kids to know better than that. You have no idea what kind of pain your death has caused us. Life will never be the same without my little angel. I love you so much, and I know that God will take you up to Heaven and you will be with your grandparents. I will love you for all of my life."

Annie stepped away and Eric took her place, "Hey baby girl. I'm in shock. I don't know what to say or do. I keep telling myself this has to be an awful nightmare, that you were too smart for this. I just don't believe it...." he trailed off.

Annie placed her hand on Eric's shoulder and looked into his eyes, as if to say go on, you need to do this.

Eric took a deep breath, "Look, I love you with all my heart. You were my last daughter. Mary and Lucy are all grown up and on their own. Now I lost you and I don't know what to say or think. Part of me is questioning God, asking Him why all this pain in my life. I can't comprehend how this was part of His plan, but I know it must be. So I guess I just want you to know how much I love you, Ruthie."

Ruthie wanted to cry, but no tears would come. She couldn't accept that she was dead, she still heard and saw her parents with her. Then they started to walk away. She couldn't believe it, this couldn't be it. This couldn't be the end.

"_MOMMY, DADDY! I'm not DEAD_!" she screamed silently. Then the room went dark again as the sheet was pulled over her for the final time.

"It was a beautiful ceremony," Lucy sobbed into Kevin's shoulder.

"As beautiful as a child's funeral can get," Mary stated bitterly.

Matt put a hand on Mary's shoulder, "Let's not hurt one another."

"Sorry Luce," Mary hugged her sister.

"It's okay, I don't know what to say either," Lucy sniffled.

"I still can't believe our little Ruthie died," Simon joined the circle.

The older Camden kids talked and shared memories of their youngest sister's life. All of their spouses sensed this was something they should do together, and went off to leave them alone. Annie and Eric Camden sat with Sam and David and the four of them were silent. The twins were old enough to understand that Ruthie was dead, but they didn't understand all the circumstances surrounding her death. They wanted desperately to ask their parents questions and to understand, but they felt it wasn't the right time, so they stayed quiet.

Later that evening everyone gathered at a favorite restaurant for a family dinner. Eric had called a few days ago to reserve a room for them since the family was so large. There were his children and grandchildren, his sister and her family, his parents, Annie's half-sister and several close family friends. They filled up the entire banquet room and the waiters rushed about trying to keep everyone satisfied. The children sat around laughing and talking quietly. The adults sat in groups, some of them smiling and happy, others quiet and standoffish. Eventually, they pulled all the tables together for dessert. They went around the table, each person sharing their happiest memory of Ruthie. Annie and Eric seemed heartwarmed to hear all the happy tales of their daughter's life. Simon had lots of happy memories from when they were younger, but he broke down halfway through his story.

That night, everyone laughed and cried and they were all brought closer together over a horrific tragedy. The Camden family was a close-knit family before the tragedy and only seemed closer after the funeral. Everyone had to go back to their own lives and eventually they would return to normal. But for the time being, the Camden family was deeply wounded and needed a lot of time to be together and heal. Each of the older kids brought their families in for visits more often after Ruthie died. Some of them hadn't seen her in nearly a year before she died. They felt guilty for not having been around to guide their youngest sister. Over time, the family would heal and life would be closer to normal.


End file.
